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NS&I offers two Premium Bond jackpots

Two £1m top prizes will be awarded in the monthly Premium Bond draw starting in August, National Savings & Investments has announced.

The executive agency says this is the biggest change to its payout rules since Premium Bond draws were established in the mid-1950s.

August’s total prize fund is set at £72m, NS&I says, which means two £1m top prizes, plus “one million” other tax-free prizes.

Investors should also benefit from an increase in the payout rate to 3.25% from 3.20%, starting from the same draw – equivalent to 5.25% for a top rate taxpayer, or 4.06% for a basic rate payer. NS&I says it is able to fund the greater prize payouts because of the surge in money that has come its way in the past half decade.

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More money has been invested in the past six years than in the previous 42, reflecting the effects of the worst bear market since the mid-1970s and investor propensity to seek out other types of assets than shares in listed companies.

In the decade since a £1m top prize was introduced in 1994, the total amount invested in Premium Bonds has shot up from £4bn to £26bn, NS&I says.

The maximum allowable investment remains £30,000 per person, with the current minimum at £100.

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